Feb 25, 2009

ok..i havent been blogging since the last 2 weeks and finally there is some time to finish up this piece on my krakow trip.

The part of the old town

the famous fire blowing dragon. According to SW, it suppose to breath fire during summer

around Krakow

view from the castle

the old town during day and night

well, the trip is supposed to be a reunion with SW since I last saw her during my europe trip in June 2008. It was definately great to be able to travel with her this time after just a short stint in Berlin. Now back to the trip, we managed to book a cheap and really nice hostel in Krakow and it was actually the best hostel I stayed so far with such a luxurius bathroom..even better thn hotel!

one of the castle courtyard

one of churches

the castle

inside the castle

I was greeted by snow when I touched down in Krakow Balice airport. Flew there using easyjet, the flight took bout 2 hours. I was asked quite a lot of questions by the immigration officer..they probably think that this girl is trying to sneak into Krakow and work as something not appropriate. After about 20 mins of 'interogation', I was finnaly 'released' and able to take the bus to the train station. I got a bit shocked when I saw the station as it was not exactly a station but more like just a stop..like those komuter back in Malaysia with the sign Labu, Tiroi etc..weird

Paid about 6 zloty for the train trip to the city center and met with this brother and sister from Australia but studying in the same university as me. They were kind of shocked to see the train 'station' as well. SW picked me up from the station and we went straight to the hostel after she kept telling me how nice it looks.

By the time we reached the hostel and start the sightseeing it's already around 2pm. Had some polish food for lunch in the shopping complex. The shopping complex in Krakow reminds me of Malaysia Mid Valley. We went to the Krakow castle and see the famous dragon. Met with some Malaysians studying in Kiev and they took pictures with us. But other than them, it's reall a rare scene to see any Asians. At night we went out for some food and night photos. The temperature was minus 13 or 14 Celcius and I was wearing like 4 layers of clothes..all thick one..look more like a penguin than a human!

The second day we decided to go to Ojcow National Park since SW has been to the nazi camp. The place was beautiful but transportation is really scarce. We were stranded in the park and trying to get some warmth from a hotel where a kind old man let us in. He couldnt communicate in English, so we just sat near the heater and ate our muffins as lunch...sad..

After that, the old man managed to get hold of the park's boss and he speak quite decent English. He told us that there is a bus going to some town where we can catch another bus back to Krakow from there. We managed to get back and even slept for a few hours before going out for dinner. This time we just went to the kebab shop opposite our hostel and order some pierogi (polish dumplings)..but the nicest thing is the chilli sauce that we had. It was so nice we decided to go back the next night but it was sold out..

the third day, we went to Zakopane, a skiing town about 3 hours away from Krakow. From here I managed to catch a glimpse of the famous Carpathians mountain..famous for the home of Dracula..:)

The scenery is simply breathtaking!

The famous Carpathians mountain, mysterious yet astoundingly gorgeous

The next day I flew back to Edinburgh and meet with SW 2 weeks from later for another adventure in Stockholm

Feb 9, 2009

All I can describe about Stockholm is that she really reminds me off Venice with the narrow street and cobblestones in Gamla Stan, part of old town. I was a day early with SW suppose to fly the next day from Krakow. It's really good to be able to travel with her again as she's really a good travel buddy and we truly enjoy each other company.

Old town at night

Stockholm at Night

I reached Stockholm at night and having some trouble trying to look for the hostel as the roads are a bit confusing. Nevertheless by the time I reached the hostel, the 8 bed room that I had booked was only left with 1 bed. I was sharing the bunker with an American girl who studied in Amsterdam and my neighbours were Germans. So we chatted a bit on Germany before I retired to bed. I had the whole day tomorrow to explore Stockholm

At Riddersholmen

The city hall at sunset. I was trying to take the best shot when there were a sudden bunch of tourist rushing to take the same view I was taking

I put on my alarm at 8am but the actual fact it was already 9am in Stockholm as it is an hour early than UK. Anyway I love walking around the town early in the morning before the place was bustled with throngs of tourists and locals as I was staying quite near to the shopping area. And I burst my bag by buying too many mini skirts at the Zara kids section !!(yes I can wear teenage girls clothes)

It was snowing but I didnt mind it too much as it was quite light and I was still able to walk around

Narrow streets of Gamla Stan

another view of Old town

the palace

view from top of Katarihasen

One of the famous church

Finally SW arrive and we went to some sushi restaurant and we even had extra bowl of rice foc. I think the lady boss must be thinking that we really enjoy the food. Off course we do as we went back the second time before I left for UK

On the second day we decided to go to this Drottningholm Palace somewhere outskirt of Stockholm which we can only reach by bus. The whole place is covered in snow and since this is where the royal family stays, I was secretly wishing to bump into some cute prince..:) but too bad there were none. I think they were hibernating during this winter period.

snow covering the dead leaves

Drottningholm Palace

trying to get a postcard view

The last day we went to Skansen and Nordiska Museum and manage to capture thise view on the way back. Seriously gorgeous!

Feb 3, 2009

The first thing I saw when I landed back in Edinburgh from Stockholm today was the white landscape covering the whole town. It seems like the whole UK was being 'attacked' by snow. Inverted comma put in as I saw quite a number of my friends studying in UK is quite excited over this. Well , I have seen worst side of winter in Chicago before so snowing is not something I really fancy especially with the slippery surface added with wind chill blowing at your face plus rain.